Aphrodite Save Us
by NotMyself
Summary: Sixteen year old Nico di Angelo has been an outcast at Camp Half-Blood since he returned almost 2 years ago, but when he falls for a cheerleader with a dark past of her own, he learns that things could be sooo much worse.


Nico di Angelo _really_ hated cheerleaders. It wasn't that he was jealous, or anything like that-they could keep their popularity. Keep it far away from him. They were just too…perky. It was six o'clock in the morning, bitter and dark and in the dead of winter of all seasons, and they could still shout cheers and throw themselves around in their tiny white skirts like they had all the life in the world. He watched them silently as he made his way from the Big House like a black shadow, his eyes flickering with annoyance as he watched the girls (and a few of the Aphrodite boys) trying to balance a smaller girl with straight mahogany hair on top of their pyramid, the only one with a patch on her skirt instead of pasted across her white sweater.

It took him a few minutes to realize that it was a small skull and crossbones, and then he watched her in surprise, taking in the other subtle hints of dark rebellion in her clothing, from her black hair ribbons to her skull covered Chuck Taylors. He grinned widely, clapping his hands.

"Try making the Parthenon next time!" He called. Most ignored him, but the small cheerleader on top of the pile looked up, her icy grey eyes curious, and before she could shout something in response she tumbled down the pyramid of Aphrodite children and toward the concrete ground.

_Let her fall. She'll just hit her head or something. Break a bone or two… _He thought darkly, and then he shook his head. With a feral curse, he ran toward the peppy teenagers and caught the girl before she hit the ground, sliding across the concrete and cutting up his own arms and face. For a second the cheerleaders were silent, and then a small blond with pigtails spoke up.

"Come on, Mina," She said, pulling the girl up without so much as a 'Thank you' to Nico for saving her from a broken neck or something. He rolled his eyes, but as she dragged the girl-Mina- away, she looked back. "Stay away from her, dead-boy. She doesn't need to get corrupted."  
"Why's she with you, then, Tracey?" He snapped back, standing and brushing off his black jeans, giving her a nasty smirk Bianca wouldn't have allowed him to give anyone, even an uber bitch like Tracey McClain. "Riddle me that."  
"Go kill someone or something!" One of the male cheerleaders called. Nico hid the anger that he felt, turning away and heading toward the woods. This was normal-for the past two years, since he'd returned to camp at age 14, he'd been mocked openly by his fellow demi-gods. They saw him as a threat-another child of the Big Three. He had Percy Jackson to thank for that rather bad reputation-he'd caused more than his fair share of trouble with his time at camp.

He had just reached the entrance to the woods, close to the place where there had once been an entrance to the Labyrinth built by Daedalus when a slight, shy cough caused him to turn around. Thinking it was another student eager to mock him, he gave whoever it was the nastiest glare he could-and being the child of Hades, who wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy, he could get to be pretty mean when he wanted to-before the glower faded and he saw the small Mina looking shyly up at him, dragging her conversed toe across the dirt.

"What?" He snapped. Her grey gaze softened, and she stepped forward with a shy smile, focusing her gaze on the ground.

"I-Um, I wanted to thank you for saving me…from that fall, I mean, I know it could have been a lot worse than just a few cuts and bruises." She raised an elbow to show him a small cut covered by a Band-Aid shaped like Jack Skellington's skull, and then a Band-Aid shaped like Zero on her knee. She straightened her pleated skirt shyly. "Listen, I can't be gone from the others for very long, but I just wanted to say thanks. I mean, I just…"

"Go back to your clan," He said bitterly, "And leave me alone."  
"What do you mean, my 'clan'?" She snapped angrily, "I'm not like Tracey."  
"I said leave me alone!" Nico shouted, storming away with his fists clenched. The pattering footsteps behind him told him that she wasn't listening to him, and he whirled around to see her waiting at the clearing, her arms crossed and her glare truly scary and only a few feet away from his own. "What do you want, psycho chick? Go back to your tanned blond little perfect Barbie friends!"  
"I'm not like them!" She shouted, picking up a rock and tossing it at him angrily. He deflected it, and then she continued, "Do I look like them? Do you think I'm an uber bitch, like Tracey or those other perfect Aphrodite kids? I'm not! I don't even know who my god parent is!"

"Well, mine gets me openly mocked and tortured every day. We all have our own problems, princess." He turned away and in response the back of his leather jacket was hit with a hail of smaller rocks. He wheeled around again and then time, he strode forward and grabbed her hair, pulling her face up to his level. She shook with absolute terror as she watched him, but her eyes hardened and she glared at him as he kept a grip on her. "I'm going to tell you this one more time, and you're going to listen or you're going to have to answer to me."

"You and what army?" She snapped.

"Oh, the army of the dead, that's all," He said, feigning innocence as he dropped her hair. She fell to the ground and laid there, her knees clenched to her face and her breathing silent. He started to walk further into the forest when her voice followed him.

"I just wanted to say thank you," She said, her voice wavering. He turned to see her sitting on the ground, her almost-white eyes brimming with tears. _Red _tears.  
"What's wrong with your-" He began, but she cut him off with a sob, her tears spilling over and her skirt spinning as she walked away.

"What's wrong with my what? I'm not the perfect cheerleader, I know, there's a lot wrong with me." She wiped at her eyes. "Just leave me alone. I'm going back to my 'clan' now. Gods, I don't even know why I bothered trying to be nice." With another choking sob, she rushed away, and by the time he reached the spot she'd stood at only seconds before, Mina was gone. Shaking his head in confusion, he returned to the Big House.

_December 3__rd_

_Hermes Cabin, Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, NY. _

_Dear Diary; _

_I tried to reach out to the child of the God of the Dead today, after he saved me from a fall that would have hurt any other camper but would have had no affect on me or my welfare. He ran to catch me and then suffered damage himself to make sure that I was not harmed, the gods only know why. After that ridiculous excuse for a child of Aphrodite tried to drag me away, I returned to the woods that he was walking in and attempted to speak to him, to thank him. He was cruel and mean spirited and simply told me to leave him alone. _

_I should not have been hurt by this as much as I was, but I could not hide tears. Lest he discover my secret, I had to rush away and feign anger when all I felt was hurt. _

_He and I have more in common than he might think- Mocked and scorned by our parents, embarrassed by classmates and still suffering from the loss of a loved one. I can't stop thinking about his eyes- grey, darker than mine and holding half as much pain. _

_I'll try and pray for no dreams of my akribos tonight-but I doubt that I will be that fortunate. It's my fault that he's gone, after all._

_**Mina Seleriovania **_


End file.
